The USDA published “A Revised and Expanded Food Dollar Series – A better Understanding of Our Food Costs,” that shows the farmers share of the food dollar is even less than originally thought. According to the report, just 11.6¢ of every dollar spent on food makes it back to the farmer.
“Only a small percentage – 11.6¢ – of our food dollar actually pays for the production of the raw commodity itself,” says Dick Gallagher chairman of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board and a farmer from Washington. “I think it is easy to see that what you pay at the store has even less to do with the price of corn.”
The USDA food dollar series measures annual expenditures by U.S. consumers on domestically produced food. The new food dollar replaces the old marketing bill series, which has been discontinued because of measurement problems and limited scope. The industry group’s series identifies the distribution of the food dollar among 10 distinct food supply chain industry groups.
For more detail on the report, go online.